I love to go to electro^plankton for its fun mix of art, style, pop culture and technology. But the updates (um, kind of like those on this blog) seem few and far between.

So how excited was I to come back from vacation and see that not only have they posted tons of new stuff, but they've given props to local fellow Chris Glass? (Answer: Super-.)

Glass' site includes lovely photos, a journal and instructions for playing a French dice game. What do you mean, you haven't been there? Go!

I'm curious - are there bars that you frequent on a particular night of the week? Maybe trivia at the Dubliner (or, the New Dubliner, I guess) on Tuesdays or Tropicana on Wednesday nights?

What "special nights" do you hit up? Dancing, drag shows, drink specials - whatever. Tell me!

Wanted to drop a line and/or shameless plug for the Heart Mini Marathon that will happen this weekend.
A lot of CiN Staffers will be participating in this event, and I for one encourage anyone else who feels the need for speed to donate to a good cause and give this race a shot.
The 5K starts at 9AM on Sunday and the 15K will begin at 10AM.
Game on, folks!

For the second year, we're hosting a stage at Taste of Cincinnati. Last year our stage was amazing - and the spot to see the best local music. (We had Heartless Bastards, Marvin and the Experience, Whitney Barricklow, Katie Reider and so many more.) For this year's festival (May 27-29) we're doing it again.

If you're in an original local band and want to get in on the action, e-mail cintaste@cincinnati.com. Tell us your band name, how you'd describe your sound, why you think you'd be so great on the big stage, your Web page, contact info, etc. And, of course, your schedule should be pretty flexible for the weekend of May 27-29.

We'll be getting back to bands in early April, but submit your info now. Even if you're not picked in our first round of scheduling, there's a chance your band could win a "reader's choice" spot. Ohhhh lala. More about that later.

Favorite bands you want to see play? Let me know!

Come out and join CiN Weekly for the ultimate St. Patrick's Day shindig. Claddagh Irish Pub at Newport on the Levee from 11AM - 1 AM.
Get ready to check out a huge heated tent, dancers, bagpipes, the CiNScion, free giveaways and a Three Olive Vodka Bomb bar.

As always, the best staff in the city will be there...so stop on over at the CiN Weekly booth and say hello!

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Matt Mulcahey's blog from Days 1-3 at the South By Southwest film and music fest in Austin. Good stuff.

From today's chat at Reds.com with new first baseman Adam Dunn:

Question from Phil: Do you like night games or day games?

Dunn: I think I like night games better because I can sleep in a little bit. I'm a big sleeper. But I like day games because I can get a big dinner afterwards. I love dinner.

Life imitates parody this week in CiN Weekly, because Tabari McCoy came back from Roy Rogers more than $10 under budget - giving us our first-ever 2 for $10!

Too bad the Dealer is on hiatus for the time being - it hasn't been updated in three weeks. Luckily, my "sources" (ha! how Page Six!) tell me it will be back soon - probably with a different format.

Not that this is anything you need to run right out and do, but we have word that the Dave Matthews Band is coming to Riverbend, Tuesday, Aug. 1. at 7 p.m.

Tickets -- $59 (reserved pavilion] and $39.50 (lawn) -- go on sale Saturday, April 8, at 10 a.m. So feel free to mark that on your calendars.

Of course, currently, it's not noted at the DMB website or Riverbend's schedule page, but we're sure they're on top of that. And somebody sent us a press release, so it must be happening.

Also on the list of things happening soon (and which you can actually do something about over the next few days):

Shaggy 2 Dope at Bogart's (March 29, 7:30 p.m.) goes on sale Friday. Same for Mushroomhead (April 2, 7 p.m.) and K.T. Tunstall (April 13, 8 p.m.).

Those first two don't ring a bell with me, but I remember seeing/reading/hearing something about Tunstall recently. Maybe it was one of these NPR pieces: choice #1 and (less probably) choice #2.

In any case, also becoming available from ticket brokers near you: Peter Pan at the Aronoff Center, Guster at the Cintas Center, and, the concert of the summer, Jimmy Buffett at Riverbend on June 8 (on sale March 11). Oh, and did we mention there's a lottery for Wicked tickets that starts March 8? Yeah, check that out.